Two of Quebec’s best-known filmmakers were back in the news this week.

Xavier Dolan shocked the film world and many film fans by announcing via Instagram a few days ago that he was cutting Oscar-nominated actress Jessica Chastain out of his upcoming movie, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan.

Meanwhile, Denis Villeneuve admitted to a British journalist that he has created “a monster” with the high-profile box-office bomb Blade Runner 2049.

To me, what the two stories underline is the fact that these two directors are at this point two of the more influential filmmakers on the planet and what’s especially cool is that Dolan and Villeneuve both made it to the upper echelons of the international film biz by refusing to make any artistic compromises. Dolan has become one of the darlings of the worldwide festival circuit precisely because he makes original oh-so-personal films, and Villeneuve, perhaps even more surprisingly, has become one of Hollywood’s star directors without having to sacrifice any of his artistic credibility.

Dolan said he decided to cut Chastain’s character from his first-ever English-language project because, as he explained on Instagram, he felt that the subplot about her villainous character “didn’t feel like it belonged to the rest of the story.” He also said that he was in the midst of trying to chop down his first cut of the film, which was four hours long.

Talk about sticking to your principles. Producers often put name actors or actresses into projects simply because that name will help sell the film. But clearly Dolan doesn’t follow the same commercial principles as most in the film biz. For him, it’s all about his artistic vision, and you have to give him kudos for that. You also have to just sit back and be amazed by a 28-year-old who has already made six features prior to John F. Donovan, all of which have played at major festivals, often enough winning big prizes.

Speaking of remaining true to your beliefs, Dolan has already announced that his next project will be Matt & Max, a French-language feature that he says was inspired by his desire to talk about homosexuality from an adult rather than adolescent point of view. The inspiration came when he was acting in the gay-themed film Boy Erased, a conversion-therapy drama that also stars Lucas Hedges, Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman. That film will be launched in the U.S. in September.

Villeneuve has bravely faced the music on the lack of commercial success of Blade Runner 2049, not shying away from admitting it hasn’t performed as well as expected at the box office. He recently told a journalist from The Telegraph in London that: “Let’s just say it would not be a good idea for me to make a movie like that twice. When you’re working on a film you’re in a bubble, and it was only when I came out that I realized we had made a monster.”

Villeneuve said one producer told him: “We’ve just made the most expensive art house movie in cinema history.”

It cost about US$300 million to make and market, yet grossed under US$100 million in North America. It made another $259 million internationally, but it is estimated that the film’s production company, Alcon Entertainment, could lose $80 million on the project. Ouch!

At the same time, Villeneuve is remaining true to his art, too. He recently turned down an offer to direct the 25th James Bond film because he would rather focus on developing an adaptation of the bestselling Frank Herbert sci-fi novel Dune.

Sean Paul coming back to Beachclub

Beachclub, which likes to call itself the biggest outdoor club in North America, will be welcoming Jamaican dancehall star Sean Paul for the second straight year. Sean Paul drew the biggest crowds in the history of the al fresco venue in Pointe-Calumet near Lake of Two Mountains, pulling in 16,000 people for two concerts last year.

He will be performing this year on Saturday, July 21 and Sunday, July 22, with tickets going on sale this Saturday at noon at beachclub.com

Yoan returning with a new album

Yoan, who won the La Voix TV singing competition in 2014, is set to launch his second album and this time around it will be entirely in the language of Charlebois. His self-titled album was mostly in English. Released in 2015, it sold 130,000 copies.

The new album, titled Depuis longtemps, will be out March 23 and the first single, Sans fin, was launched earlier this month. Yoan Garneau, who goes by the single name Yoan, plays country-pop. He is already at work on another album, which will be entirely in the language of Johnny Cash.

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